An appeal to Environment Canterbury’s Plan Change 5 nutrient modelling rules has been resolved with a major win achieved for irrigators, says IrrigationNZ.

A Hearings Panel on the Plan Change proposed a new requirement that would have effectively required that all older spray irrigation systems in Canterbury be replaced with new ones by 2020. It was estimated that this change would cost irrigators $300 million.

All parties to the appeal agreed that an error in law had been made when the Hearing Panel introduced this as a new requirement because no submitter had asked for this change.

INZ carried out testing on 300 irrigation systems in Ashburton and Selwyn districts over two summers recently which found that older spray irrigation systems can achieve good levels of water efficiency if regular checking and maintenance is carried out…

Biosecurity New Zealand said on Tuesday a property near Motueka, in the Tasman district, had tested positive for the bacterial cattle disease.

Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) said the affected property was a mixed sheep and beef farm.

The farm was identified through tracing animals from known infected farms and it was now under a Restricted Place Notice, which meant it was in “quarantine lockdown”, restricting the movement of animals and other “risk goods” on and off the farm. . .

I recently returned a little disappointed from the Local Government New Zealand conference in Christchurch.

From a dairy farmer’s perspective I was disappointed at the lack of recognition of the cost of farming and issues we are facing – all the emphasis was on urban.

The conference theme was We are Firmly Focused on the Future: Future Proofing for a Prosperous and Vibrant NZ. . .

NZ’s free range beef system uses 45 liters water per kg beef and 20 liters water per kg sheep meat compared to 680 liters water per kg beef in international feedlot systems. (AgR) The benefits of NZ grass fed meat compared to feedlot and plant based alternatives. #tastepurenaturepic.twitter.com/e7hgu28pwb

Teamwork is the secret to success for the Southland farm judged the best dairy business in the land. Sonita Chandar reports.

Despite three of the four partners living in the North Island the success of a Southland farming business can be attributed to exceptional teamwork and good clear lines of communication.

Each partner brings strengths to the table but no one is above the others. They are all equals, make decisions as a group and share in the spoils of their collective success.

MOBH Farm, an equity partnership made up of Kevin Hall, Tim Montgomerie, Jodie Heaps and Mark Turnwald, won two category awards as well as being named the supreme winner at the 2018 Dairy Business of the Year awards (DBOY). . .

With a relatively new farming business, Dunback couple Scott and Nadine Tomlinson were keen to surround themselves with some key people.

So they joined an Otago-based Red Meat Profit Partnership Action Network group made up of nine farming couples.

Last week, the group held its second meeting at Barewood Station, a Lone Star Farms-owned property between Outram and Middlemarch. The focus was on body condition scoring and parasite management.

The RMPP Action Network aimed to help farmers put their ideas into action on-farm. Essentially, a group of farmers identified a problem and, with the help of experts, worked together to come up with a solution . .

(BusinessDesk) – Livestock Improvement Corp, the dairy herd genetics cooperative, reported a 55 percent drop in full-year net profit on higher restructuring costs but was upbeat about the current year as those costs will no longer be incurred.

Net profit for the year to May 31 was $9.3 million versus $20.8 million, the Hamilton-based company said in a statement. Reported earnings before interest and taxation were $14.9 million, also down 54 percent. In both cases, the result was weighed by one-off transformation costs and the annual revaluation of the biological bull team. However, stripping out those costs ebit was $27 million versus $20.7 million in the same period a year earlier, it said. . .

Landcorp Faming Limited (Pāmu) has released an updated EBITDAR (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization and Revaluations) forecast for the 2017/18 financial year.

Previous advice from Pāmu at the time it released its half-year result was an estimated EBITDAR of between $33 and $38 million for the full year. This has now been revised up to an estimated EBITDAR of between $47 – $52 million. . .

Plant Research (NZ) Ltd, a privately-owned plant breeding and research company based in Christchurch New Zealand, has released two new field pea varieties designed for the emerging pea ingredients market.

The use of field peas for producing a wide range of new foods is increasing rapidly globally. Plant Research (NZ) Ltd together with it’s USA based breeding partner have been working for 10 years to develop the two new varieties. Both companies have linkages with major feed ingredient companies who are helping to understand key traits that are important for fractionation and ingredients for different products. . .

Common house flies (Musca domestica) may be a cheap and sustainable source of feed for farm animals, according to a scientist and an entrepreneur.

The flies, whose larvae can be bred, nurtured and ground into granules, provide roughly the same amount of edible protein as fish meal and other widely used protein sources, said entrepreneur Jason Drew.

Drew’s book, The Story of the Fly and How it Could Save the World, launched in London, United Kingdom, last week, argues that the insect’s larvae should be farmed commercially to provide protein for farmed fish and animals to feed the world’s growing population. . .

There is great unease within the New Zealand dairy industry. Many farmers feel that the urban community plus a range of events have turned against them. Most are still proud to be dairy farmers but there is lots of stress and anxiety.

This stress and anxiety is despite farmers receiving good prices for their milk in the last two years. This has followed two preceding years when most farmers made losses and some sharemilkers were wiped out.

Right now, there are some short-term worries with product prices dropping at the last dairy auction. This is creating uncertainty for the year ahead. But in the longer term, the outlook for dairy is actually very strong. . .

(BusinessDesk) – A2 Milk Co’s new managing director and chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka will start on July 16, replacing Geoff Babidge who had been in the role since 2010.

Babidge announced his plans to retire last year, having overseen the company while its shares jumped from around $1 at the end of 2015 to a then-record of $8.75 on the back of successive strong sales as the company’s infant formula attracted strong demand in China. The shares last closed at $11.40, and have gained 41 percent this year. . .

An interesting comparison can be drawn between the dairy industry in New Zealand and the coal industry in Australia. Both seem to have the ability to polarise groups and yet both countries economies are heavily reliant on them.

Coal prices have had a resurgence to over US$100 per tonne which is resulting in calls for increasing the amount exported from Australia. Currently, coal brings in about AU$58 bln, one of the major Australian exports.

Dairying in New Zealand holds a similar place and both hold about 30% of world trade. An observation noted while I am here in Australia is the diversity of commentary in the ‘mainstream media’. In Northern Queensland where coal mining appears to be held in very high regard, the major Cairns newspaper editorial seemed to typify the attitude of many. One piece leapt out which showed the gulf I believe exists between most Kiwis and certainly a section of Australians, “Environmental radicals sit in their West End homes with heating and air-conditioning, driving petrol-guzzling cars and generally in a way that generally consumes plenty of energy, most of it coming from fossil fuel sources”. . .

A Kiwi dairy pioneer has been granted his one wish for his twilight years – the chance to see what his life’s work has led to in a modern processing plant.

Palmerston North 86-year-old Don King’s work at the Diary Research Institute, now the Fonterra Research and Development Centre, in the decades after the 1950s helped lay the foundations and processes for modern dairy processing plants.

King, extremely ill and rest-home bound after a massive stroke, had one request – to see where it has all ended up.

And thanks to an old colleague, and the efforts of Fonterra staff, his wish has been granted. . .

A national forest safety conference in August will bring the latest practical solutions to the table for all contractors and forest managers to hear about and learn from. Following the challenges that this industry faced in 2013, it has responded with passion and commitment to new ways to embed safety culture into everyone’s mindset on the job. Also, over the past 5 years mechanical harvesting technologies have come a long way for keeping workers safe in logging, especially on steep slopes.

“Some of our most inspiring forestry safety specialists are those with hands-on experience in both crew culture and harvesting technologies. They have been out there doing it, earning the respect of their peers,” says Forest Industry Engineering Association spokesman, Gordon Thomson. . .

On World Zoonoses Day, Agcarm reminds pet and livestock owners that good hygiene and vaccination is vital for protecting the health of people and animals.

Diseases such as Campylobacter, Leptospirosis and rabies are ’zoonotic’ and are transmissible between animals and humans. Research shows that 75 percent of all new human pathogens originate from animal sources.

Campylobacter, which is normally associated with eating undercooked chicken, can be associated with pets, especially dogs. Recent research shows that many dogs carry these bacteria without showing any signs of disease. Poor hygiene, such as not hand-washing before eating can spread the disease from dogs to people. . .

Selling a flower which is synonymous with sunshine is helping give hope to struggling farmers.

In mid-November, Taranaki farmer Will Fleming planted about 500 sunflower seeds around the outside of one of his paddocks, and by next week the distinctive flowers will be on sale.

The money raised from selling off the sunflowers will go directly to the Taranaki Rural Support Trust (TRST). . .

Congrats to Tasa Havea, who's work both as a scientist & as a leader in his community has been recognised in the New Year Honours List where he was made a member of the NZ Order of Merit for his services to the Pacific Community and the dairy industry https://t.co/Q5MERXHn1Kpic.twitter.com/LmgeS4xJBu

The year has got off to a good start and the rain on the roof as I sit and write this is music to my ears – as it will be for all but arable farmers trying to harvest crops and parents trying to keep children entertained.

It has been an unusual season, with what seems to be rapid swings between wet and dry, but the fodder beet, kale and maize crops on our farm are all looking great. The maize is a relatively new inclusion in our system and is proving valuable as cattle feed over the late summer.

All our finishing cattle were gone before Christmas, and we are getting lambs away at good weights. . .

Glenavy has produced an unlikely social media star who is bowling them over with his infectious sense of humour.

From the tiny South Canterbury town on the banks of the Waitaki River, Ross ‘Rous’ McCulloch Glenavy Cricket Club captain, Glenavy Volunteer Fire Brigade member, Rural Bachelor of the Year finalist, sheep farmer and online larrikin is attracting clicks with his classic Kiwi humour.

McCulloch, with the help of his cricket team-mate, opening batsman, camera operator, dairy farmer and fellow fire brigade member Jackson Henshaw, files weekly “pitch reports” to the club’s Facebook page – all tongue-in-cheek – but their efforts on and offline are paying dividends for their community. . .

Marango Station, bordering gorge country adjacent to Guy Fawkes River east of Ebor, has undergone a facelift of massive proportions.

When three investors bought the 3800 hectare freehold and lease hold holding two years ago they put a young cattleman Mick Kelsall in position of manager. This 33 year old’s boundless energy has helped drive substantial change.

He credits his family and grandfather Jim, ‘Kahona’ Hernani and other properties, as his first mentor and these days leans on Dorrigo agent Tim Bayliss for constant feedback. . .

(BusinessDesk) – Engender Technologies, the agricultural technology company spun out of Auckland University, is moving to scale up its sex-selection product for the dairy industry to full commercialisation in the next 18 months and is targeting the US$2 billion dairy artificial insemination industry.

Co-founded by the University of Auckland and seed investment company Pacific Channel in 2011, Engender has secured option-to-license agreements for its technology with three of the world’s largest artificial insemination companies, has successfully concluded laboratory trials and is preparing for scaling commercialization, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. In August, the company’s first key patent was allowed in the US and its patent attorneys have confidence that it will be granted in its other key markets, it said. . .

British retailer Marks & Spencer will no longer stock New Zealand lamb in its Scottish stores, after a decision to only sell locally-produced lamb.

New Zealand exports about 29,000 lambs a year to Marks & Spencer in Scotland and the decision will hit about 10 or 12 lamb producers in this country.Beef and Lamb NZ chairman James Parsons is in Britain, France, Ireland and Belgium this week to assess what effect Brexit may have on New Zealand exports. . .

Dairy farmers’ ability to remain internationally competitive is likely to be a hot topic when dairy industry and research body, DairyNZ, reviews the past year at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Canterbury this month.

DairyNZ is holding its AGM in Ashburton from 11am on Thursday, October 27, at Hotel Ashburton.

Industry body chairman Michael Spaans says the AGM will review the 2015/16 dairy season, including the low milk price challenges, and discuss DairyNZ’s highlights for the year and future direction. . .

A week or two ago, Alexandra-based Landcare Research scientist Grant Norbury found himself alone in the middle of the remote Mackenzie country, syringe in hand, squirting Vaseline onto rocks. He had to laugh.

“It’s such a weird way to protect dotterels,” he says.

Yes it is. But weirdness aside, the science behind his latest ‘chemical camouflage’ research project is fascinating. It’s all about making predators bored with birds, so that they stick to their normal prey like rabbits and mice. . .

(BusinessDesk) – Bayer’s US$66 billion acquisition of Monsanto, creating the world’s biggest supplier of seeds and agri-chemicals to farmers, will be closely watched by New Zealand’s rural sector as the latest in a series of deals that has shrunk the number of competitors in the market.

Bayer and Monsanto are two of the big seven companies selling agricultural chemicals in New Zealand. Of the other five, Dow Chemical is in the process of a global merger with DuPont and Swiss seed giant Syngenta is close to being acquired by China National Chemical Corp, which already owns Adama. Of the others, ASX-listed Nufarm had a distribution agreement with Monsanto for its Roundup glyphosphate products up until 2013, while Bayer rival BASF reportedly held inconclusive talks with Monsanto earlier this year . . .

A record of 136 entries has been received for the 2016 New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards; 117 Extra Virgin and 19 Flavoured olive oils. The previous best entry was less than 100.

The international judges are Reni Hildenbrand from South Africa, Georges Feghali from Lebanon, Robert Harris from Germany/Australia along with New Zealand judges Charlotte Connoley from Auckland, Rachel Priestley from Greytown and Rachel Costello from Nelson. . .

THE Wagyu breed is set to benefit immensely from Australia’s first sire progeny test where net feed intake (NFI) is assessed in a commercial feedlot situation.

Australian Wagyu Association and Kerwee Lot Feeders on Queensland’s Darling Downs have developed a comprehensive program with the first intake of 180 head representing nine sires in the feedlot since the start of August.

Kerwee has installed GrowSafe feed bins, the first available in a commercial feedlot in Australia, in two pens with a total capacity of 180 head. Three intakes a year can be assessed. . .

Southland deer farming pioneer, leader and mentor David Stevens is the 2015 recipient of the New Zealand Deer Industry Award.

Stevens’ leadership roles in the industry started in the early 1980s as the inaugural member of the Southland Deer Farmers committee.

He was a key instigator of the National Velvet and Cervena Plates competitions and a hardworking contributor to many deer farming-allied initiatives such as monitor farms, discussion groups and stud breeder initiatives. . .

BOUNDARY rider on the dingo fence rider might seem like a job title plucked from the 19th century, but it’s one just as relevant today – perhaps even more so – than it was when the fence was constructed in the late 1800s.

At more than 5000 kilometres long, Australia’s dingo fence has the distinction of being the world’s longest fence, and while utes may have replaced horses as the mode of transport for today’s “rider”, the job remains the same.

Then and now, the boundary rider’s job is to monitor the fence, look for breaches and make repairs to prevent dingos from entering the pastoral zones of the state, and as graziers fear, breed with domesticated dogs gone wild and increase what is already a growing issue. . .